


cursed by the love that i have received

by thetowerssang



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Merlin (TV), Torchwood
Genre: Bisexual, F/F, Inspired By Tumblr, M/M, bisexuals being chaotic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetowerssang/pseuds/thetowerssang
Summary: After the doctor reactivates Jack's vortex manipulator, the team travels to the time of merlin. They meet Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Morgana, and Gwaine (from bbc's Merlin) but Owen gets sick along the way. They must fight a seemingly invisible enemy and help get Owen back to the 21st century despite a broken vortex manipulator. idfk whats going on in this fic, the plot is all over the place
Relationships: Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), martha jones/morgana pendragon
Comments: 14
Kudos: 12





	1. A roof and a wrist

**Author's Note:**

> very much inspired by @flyingpurplepeopleeater42 on tumblr! also dedicated to @a-confused-contradictory-mess on tumblr as well <3

The familiar buzzing of the sonic came as the doctor pressed the device to Jack's vortex manipulator. 

"Thank you, doctor! I promise you I won't do anything bad. Well, not that bad. I'll try not to mess up the timeline. Plus, I know flirting is off the limits." 

Jack beamed at him as he blabbered away. 

"Well, that's a promise I know you won't keep." The doctor grinned, remembering the night on Helirius 6.

He finished, and Jack rushed out of the tardis doors, excited to take everyone on a trip. Except, it was 11 pm, and everyone was at home. He couldn't hide his enthusiasm as he rushed to his office, collecting his things and grabbing his jacket off the hook. 

Jack flung open the flat door, expecting to see Ianto working. He walked up the stairs and instead saw him sleeping. He quickly got changed and slipped in next to him. Ianto shifted to snuggle against him, mumbling about it being midnight. Jack ignored him and instead held him close as they both drifted off into sleep. 

•

When they awoke the next day, Jack told everyone to come in an hour early, enthusiasm filling his voice. The other people arrived shortly after, grumbling and complaining about early mornings while Ianto made coffee. 

"What exactly is this, Jack? Got another mysterious reading?" Owen mumbled out, his hair ruffled and sticking up in weird ways. Ianto handed out the coffee, and they all accepted it graciously. 

"Let's talk somewhere else, I have a friend meeting us."

A little bit later, on some arbitrary roof in Cardiff:

The scene was amusing. Tosh was sitting on the floor, a computer in her lap as always. Owen was sprawled opposite of her, complaining about the cold, early morning. Jack and Gwen were hanging out at the ledge, Jack standing with a pensive look on his face, and Gwen staring out with her feet over the side. Ianto was standing behind them, coaxing them to get away. After 20 more minutes of Owen complaining and Ianto worrying, someone opened the door to the roof. 

"Ms. Martha Jones!"

Jack flashed his iconic smile at the woman who walked onto the roof. He leaped onto the floor and walked towards her, quickly taking her into a hug. 

"Jack! Way to be cryptic with your message."

"How is unit going, giving you any trouble?" Jack replied with a smirk.

"They're not as bad as you think, Jack. They've been very nice in helping. You're the one most likely to give me trouble if anyone did," Martha shot back with a smile.

Jack chuckled as Ianto began to prod him for answers.

"So Jack, what is it that's got you so excited? You didn't even need your coffee in the morning."

He shifted his arms out of Martha and showed his wrist to the group. 

"It's a vortex manipulator. Basically time travel. We can go anywhere at any time in the universe."

Martha looked on disapprovingly from a distance, a frown pressed on her face. 

"Jack, remember what happened last time? Also, the doctor disabled that, so how would you even do it? Unit hasn't reported any tardis sightings or temporal anomalies. If you hacked it, so help me god I will do something bad. He stopped it for a goo-"

Jack quickly cut her off. 

"Martha, he came back."

She looked dejectedly at him, wishing that the doctor would notice her instead. After slinking off to sit on the ledge, Jack began to speak, glancing worriedly at Martha. 

"Listen, I won't do anything bad, Martha."

"Well, we know that's not gonna happen," Owen said with a snarky voice. 

"Hey! Watch your tone, Owen Harper," Jack shot back, a finger pointed at him. 

"Now, we have to figure out where the hell we're going," he said, tapping buttons on the device on his wrist. 

Ianto and Tosh perked up at this, coincidentally having had a conversation one day about what mythological place the other would go to.

They glanced at each other, seemingly understanding what the other was thinking.

"Merlin!" They both said at the same time. 

Everyone looked at them, the nerdiest of the group. 

"You could go anywhere in the universe, any time, and you choose an ancient story that probably doesn't exist?" Gwen complained. 

"But what if it does exist? We would never know unless we tried." Tosh argued back. 

Ianto looked at Jack, pulling out his puppy eyes.

"Please, Jack? For me?" 

Jack couldn't handle it and almost immediately broke down. 

"Alright, fine. But you owe me, hon." 

Ianto and Tosh smiled and Gwen put on a deep frown. Jack inputted the coordinates and told everyone to gather around. 

"One more thing. Close your eyes."

Everyone looked over at him, some in confusion and some in worry. 

"Just trust me, you don't want to look at the time vortex." 

They all put one hand on his wrist as he instructed, and he activated the watch, dragging them all to a land of myth and a time of legend...


	2. the drums

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> high key never finished merlin kjasdhfkj im so sorry if canon is fucked up in this fic

Owen couldn't help it. There was a sound calling out to him. He, oddly, heard the banging of drums.

He knew Jack's warning and still looked, eyes searching for the source of this noise. 

He suddenly felt a strong lurching feeling in his stomach as his body felt like it was warping in on itself. His limbs felt like they were being crushed together, bent in ways they shouldn't be able to. He gasped in fear, but no air came to his lungs. 

Stars began to cloud his eyes, blurring the view he had of the time vortex. He got another glimpse of it before he shut his eyes tightly closed. 

The stars stayed put, blinding his eyes and creating a dull ache in his head. The drums never stopped. Bangs echoed like a song stuck on repeat. 

His mind went blank and he began to drift into unconsciousness. 

•

They all landed in a large forest, Jack immediately ripping the smoldering vortex manipulator off his wrist. It landed onto the leafy floor, the leftover rain making the small fire fizzle out. 

He looked around, counting heads, and looking for injuries. Tosh was crouched on the floor, shaking an unconscious Owen. Martha rushed over next to her, rifling through her medical bag. Ianto was resting at the foot of a tree, his foot twisted strangely.

Jack heard Martha call out his name and rushed over to where Owen was. 

"Is he okay?" Jack asked Martha, who was pressing a small device to his head and looking at the screen attached to it.

"His brain activity is off the charts. He would be dead if he wasn't already." Martha's brow furrowed as her mind searched for any possible diagnosis she could give. Nothing she knew of could have done this. 

"We should take him to a friend of mine, he'll be able to help. Maybe it's something from this time that we don't have in the modern world." 

Martha frowned at Jack's ignorance. 

"That's not how diseases work, Jack. He wouldn't be affected by them. Plus he's got no signs of any known infection, human or otherwise." 

After arguing for a bit longer, they settled on just deciding to bring him to Jack's friend, the court physician. 

They walked into the house with Owen in Jack's arms and Ianto being held up by Tosh. Owen was placed on a bed, and Martha continued looking him over while Gaius searched for something to wrap around Ianto's ankle. 

Everyone who wasn't working sat down at the dinner table and made small talk, both Gwen and Tosh occasionally glancing up at Owen in worry. After Ianto joined them with his foot bandaged up, Jack began to plan. 

"Okay, Gaius says we can go ask the king for help, he said as he pulled out a handwritten map, before adding "apparently he's pretty," earning him a glare from Ianto. 

•

Merlin was very excited at the idea of new people in Camelot. The rumor was that they were old friends of Gaius and were gonna ask to stay in the castle. 

He arrived in the throne room at the perfect time, slipping in next to Gwen. 

"Captain Jack Harkness," the stranger's voice ricocheted around the court walls as he bowed deeply in front of Arthur sitting at the throne.

"And you are?"

Merlin barely heard the response, as Gwen began whispering in his ear. 

"Your thoughts, Merlin?" 

He took this time to properly inspect Jack. His chin was the most prominent thing about him, but even from ten feet away he could still smell the scent wafting off of him. He didn't know what it was, but it smelled heavenly. 

"Hot, 9/10, highly suggest." 

Gwen snorted, causing Arthur to look back at her in disapproval.

"Okay, 7/10, might suggest," she whispered back. Morgana took her chance and leaned over to whisper to them. 

"Pretty, 8/10, would suggest"

Merlin kept a mental note of all their responses to write down, adding to the collection. 

"Nice to meet you, Arthur Pendragon." Jack flashed a grin. 

"Scratch that, make it 8/10" Gwen hurriedly whispered, a blush creeping on her cheeks as they all giggled together. 

Jack handed a small piece of fabric to the king and Merlin watched on in curiosity. 

"Camelot is a safe and fair kingdom. I shall provide you with your requirements," Arthur finally decided. "Guards, take them to some empty rooms on the left side of the castle." 

They walked off next to the guards and Merlin looked at Arthur, who kept staring at the door. 

"Arthur?" He snapped out of his trance and looked back at Merlin. They looked at each other for a minute before Arthur looked away. 

"I've got some armor for you to clean, and you have to get sew the rip in my red shirt together. Be sure-" 

Merlin stalked off before Arthur could finish his sentence, going to see if Gwen was free to talk. 

(she happened to be preoccupied with...... other things)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCK I FINALLY FINISHED EDITING THIS KDSAFJKKJ  
> hope yall like it, it took me 2 hours

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you liked this story! <3


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